Feminist Theories (PDF)

Essay from the year 2013 in the subject Gender Studies, grade: A, ( Atlantic International University ), language: English, abstract: Feminist theories provide useful insight into the social and economic position of African women in general and Zimbabwe in particular. Broadly conceptualized feminist theories examine woman's social and economic roles as well as lived experiences . Feminist theories also are concerned with freedom, equality, equal opportunities between men and women in all facets of life. Thus the basic underlying assumptions of feminist theories are that women are equally capable of performing any social role as their male counterparts and there is need to end sexism and sexist oppression by empowering women . Feminist theories fall under the following broad strands, liberal feminism, cultural feminism, socialist feminism, radical feminism and global feminism among many. These theories shape advocacy and interventionist strategies to address gender discrimination. Advocacy denotes strategies, actions taken and solutions proposed to promote or influence decision making at the local and state level to create positive change for people . Within the context of Zimbabwe, Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs) have employed varied advocacy and interventionist strategies to address gender discrimination in all aspects of life. Gender discrimination refers to unequal treatment or unfair practices based on socially constructed roles for men and women in society. This paper seeks to show how feminist theories help understand the social and economic position of African women with a particular focus on Zimbabwe. The paper also highlights some of the main advocacy and interventionist strategies being used by NGOs to address gender discrimination.